The Nikkei Is Sliding

Japanese stocks are falling after the Nikkei ended up 1.9% on Wednesday.

Chinese inflation cooled, with consumer prices up 2.5% on the year.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea maintained its benchmark interest rate at 2.5%.

Here's a quick look at the markets:

• Japan's Nikkei is down 1.5%.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is down 0.2%
• South Korea's KOSPI is flat.
• The Shanghai Composite is flat.

U.S. stocks fell and bonds got slammed after the Federal Reserve published minutes of its December meeting, which showed that most members backed the move to reduce its asset purchase program. All eyes are now on Friday's jobs report.